Judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals should throw out an $81 million judgment against KBR because the district court in Oregon had no jurisdiction in the case brought by 12 Oregon soldiers, KBR's lawyers argued this month.

No they shouldn't, responded lawyers for the 12 Oregon soldiers, who are awaiting the results of KBR's appeal of the jury's 2012 verdict.

This month's arguments flow from the events of the spring of 2003, when the Oregon soldiers were assigned to provide security for KBR contractors working to restore the flow of Iraq's oil following the U.S.-led invasion of the country. One of the sites they guarded was Qarmat Ali, a water treatment plant in southern Iraq that had been contaminated by a carcinogenic compound called sodium dichromate.

After some of the soldiers developed health problems they believe resulted from their exposure to the compound, they sued KBR in federal court in Portland, claiming that the contractor knowingly exposed them to health risks without alerting them. KBR says it closed and worked to clean up the site as soon as it knew it was contaminated.

The jury listened to nearly a month of testimony before returning a verdict that KBR had negligently exposed the soldiers to the carcinogen. KBR appealed that verdict.

Last week, KBR argued that in appellate court that the trial judge in Oregon erred in allowing the case to proceed. In light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that threw out a case for lack of jurisdiction, the appellate court in the current case should do the same, the company argued.

But on Monday, the soldiers' lawyers said KBR knew full well that it was working with soldiers who belonged to the Oregon Guard and would return to the state after their deployment in Iraq. "KBR repeatedly directed its misconduct at Oregon," they argued. "When KBR invoked the use of Oregon’s National Guard, it set in motion Oregon impacts that continue to this day."

The Ninth Circuit will consider KBR's request for a summary reversal before hearing formal appeals.